by By Jeff Reeves, Special for USA TODAY

by By Jeff Reeves, Special for USA TODAY

You have a stack of tax paperwork, but lack the time or knowledge to figure things out. There's a tax preparation joint nearby offering to do the work for you and simply deduct the cost of the preparation service (plus a fee) from your anticipated return.

The plan sounds logical if you're a cash-strapped consumer. But the reality is that steep fees associated with tapping your tax refund early can take a big bite out of your wallet.

"It's quite expensive, when you think about it," said Chi Chi Wu, staff attorney for the non-profit National Consumer Law Center. "At $30 to defer payment of about $200 for 20 days, you're talking a triple-digit APR."

If you're curious, the example above is actually a 273.75% annual percentage rate. That's a big price to pay simply for the luxury of not paying your tax preparer out of your pocket upfront and deferring costs for just a few weeks.

Even more costly can be refund anticipation loans, which are similar to payday loans and advance taxpayers their refund a few weeks before the IRS actually cuts the check â?¦ for a hefty fee, of course.

Wu notes that while federally regulated banks have been forced out of the refund anticipation loan business thanks to recent reforms, the practice itself is not illegal. As a result, "fringe banks" and payday lenders that don't fall under traditional bank regulations may still be offering these products at considerable expense to customers.

The only practical constraint until oversight is expanded, she said, is how much money these non-traditional lenders have to work with.

"If you want to do 100,000 refund anticipation loans at around $1,500, you're talking $150 million in capital in a short window," Wu said. "That's a big capital hurdle. But there's technically no regulation saying (the loans) are illegal."

Allowing a tax preparer to take a cut of your tax return for either preparation costs or to subsidize a loan is almost always a bad idea. So who exactly is willing to shoulder the huge fees to access their tax refund early via these methods? The answer is, unfortunately, the poor and the desperate.

A 2010 report from the U.S. Treasury Department states that most of the taxpayers using these products are from low-income households â?? particularly those who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a roughly $50 billion tax policy meant to benefit the working poor.

In other words, these kind of expensive tax return schemes target those who need the money just to keep their heads above water.

Thankfully, there are options out there for cash-strapped taxpayers.

The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and the AARP-sponsored tax counseling for the elderly both provide free tax help for taxpayers who qualify. Volunteers who are familiar with the tax code and the unique situations facing low-income Americans are there to help, free of charge. That means there's no need to let someone take a cut of your return just because you can't pay them upfront for preparation.

There are thousands of VITA sites in operation nationwide right now, and you can find a location using the VITA Locator Tool online or by calling 800-906-9887. The AARP Foundation's Tax Aide also has an online locator tool, and a toll-free help line at 888-227-7669 to connect you with help near your home.

For those who are desperate and not just impatient for a tax refund, even then there are options. There are small loans from a bank, particularly a credit union since these institutions have a long history of allowing short-term borrowing of small sums.

And most communities have non-profit credit counselors who can help you develop a budget and manage your debt instead of just using short-term fixes such as a payday loan or refund anticipation loan. Heck, a credit counselor may even be able to help you figure out how to use your refund to actually start building up some savings as well as pay the bills.

The bottom line is that free tax preparation and counseling resources provide a great alternative to forfeiting a portion of your refund, and volunteers are out there to help low-income Americans maximize the process.

"For many Americans, this is the most important financial transaction they will make all year," Wu said.

That means it's crucial to make the most of your tax return by cutting out costly preparation and refund advance schemes.